Prior inventions have utilized tidal power to generate air pressure to drive a turbine. A major disadvantage of these power plants is that they do not efficiently generate power uniformly over the full tidal cycle. An objective of this invention is to accomplish uniform generation of power, during lulls and stagnant periods and very low tides, by the sequential operation of a plurality of chambers.
One proposed solution to this problem is found in the Paulsen U.S. Pat. No. 2,484,183 which discloses a two compartment chamber. A primary chamber generates positive pressure during rising tide and vacuum during falling tide. A secondary chamber stores compressed air during rising tide and later discharges that air to extend the period of operation of the power plant. This system requires an extremely large chamber with enough height to contain the entire change in sea water height between high and low tide. A chamber of this size would be very expensive and also would be inefficient during small tidal fluctuations.